32-bit to 64-bit?

[Christian]

I was just wondering, I have a Macbook 2007.

It has a Intel Core Duo processor, which is 32-bit.

I was wondering, would it be cheap let-alone possible to swap it with a Intel Core Duo 2 processor so it's 64-bit?

The reason I want to do so is because I cant update the software on the Macbook, because its a 32, and I can't use parallels.

If it's possible  would it be cheap or should I fix up the broken display and battery on my 2007 Macbook and sell it and save up to get a Old Mac Mini or Macbook air?

 

Thanks in advance!

[CA3LE]

Hey Christian!

The problem you'd have is with the firmware. You'd have an impossible time trying to update the EFI on that machine to allow for a 64 bit processor. It's also a delicate, difficult and risky CPU swap because I believe that CPU is soldered on the board. You'd pretty much need to swap the logic board too. It can be done but the question is... is it worth it. I personally don't think so.

I think it's time to start saving for a macbook or mac mini with a core 2 duo. If you sell the old one, don't bother fixing anything... sell it as is. You'll never get the investment back. There are plenty of peole who'd love that dispite the issues. You'll just have to sell it for like $100. If the battery and display were working obviously you could ask more. But as you know that computer will work just fine is it's plugged in and output to a display... so there is still a little value there. Just not very much.

What sucks is that the model you have was the last model with the Core Duo. Months after your model they switched to the Core 2 Duo. :-/

[Pgoodwin1]

I too have an older MacBook Pro (2006) with the Core Duo processor. Like CA3LE said, there's more to changing the processor than just putting that device in, and de soldering the old one and soldering in a new one would likely trash the board.

I'm curious about your model. According to Mactracker, the 2007 MacBooks were 64-bit machines. The late 2006 MB was the first with the Core 2 Duo 64-bit processor. So if yours is really a Core Duo, it's a 2006, it's 32-bit, and not sure, but it likely has 2 MB RAM or less.

It's possible that it would run older Windows versions like XP or Win7 32 bit. But with only 2 MB of RAM your performance may be limited, as Windows requires a lot of RAM to run well. Apple has Boot Camp which requires rebooting the Mac but if you just need some PC-only software that doesn't require a lot of resources, it might work. There are older versions of Parallels available allowing simultaneous Windows and Mac OS, but again with only 2 MB RAM your performance might not be great. Also, the hard drives in those older machines weren't very big 80-120 GB, and if the hard drive is almost full performance will suffer. You can upgrade the HDD though. I put a 500 GB 2.5 in drive in my wife's 2006 MacBook Pro and it breathed a lot of life into it (along with some more RAM). I also think the MacBook didn't have a separate graphics card, so any software that is graphically intensive running on Windows would probably not be too great either. I have zero experience though running Boot Camp or Parallels on any Mac, so I'm not sure exactly what can and can't be done here. There's a ton of discussions out there on the Internet about running Boot Camp or Parallels. If you just need to run a few simple PC-only programs, it might be worth investigating further. You can get older versions or Parallels and Windows that will run on a 32-bit Mac. If you need Windows for some PC-only 64 bit games though, getting a newer machine would be a must.

Note. My wife's 2006 MacBook Pro can't upgrade past Mac OS 10.6.8, but that's not as big a bummer (yet) as you'd think. Aside from a few nice aspects of the newer Mac OSs, 10.6.8 is one of the best operating systems ever developed. Things will get worse as 64-bit only software takes over. But the only real bummer for us so far is that TurboTax abandoned the 32-bit machines on the Mac (but not on the PCs...grrrrrrrr). Ironically though, TurboTax was available on the iPad, but that company developed that software on the Mac, then dumped on them. Still, not being able to run some of the latest Mac software like iTunes 11 was not a bummer at all. I tried iTunes 11 on my 2010 iMac and went back to 10.7 as they eliminated multiple windows in iTunes 11, which was a huge misstep. Plus when I use the latest Mac OS 10.8 on the iMac, I make it look just like OS 10.6.8. The only things that the newer OS offers (for me at least) is better iCloud integration with Notes, Reminders, and Photostreaming. So soldiering on with the 2006 32 bit MacBook Pro is still going well. With the extra RAM and bigger HDD, it's still pretty quick, it has wireless 802.11 n, and is rock stable. After 7 years, it's performing better than any other computer that I've ever owned at age 7 by quite a large margin. I don't plan on retiring it any time soon. It still runs Web based games fine, and the grand kids use it all the time when they're here. Your old MacBook would benefit from the same RAM and HDD upgrade as I did (not expensive), and that machine will continue giving you good use for quite a while. But again, if you're after graphic intensive gaming on PC-only games, a new machine would be the way to go.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Pgoodwin1

[ybnrmalatall]

tbh If you are wanting to do intensive stuff on a computer you should build one, nowadays its just legos

laptops always stay the same and are never worth trying to upgrade.

[Christian]

tbh If you are wanting to do intensive stuff on a computer you should build one, nowadays its just legos

laptops always stay the same and are never worth trying to upgrade.

I want it to be on OSX Mountain Lion, Apples OS.

[ybnrmalatall]

I want it to be on OSX Mountain Lion, Apples OS.

mm I don't see why you like mac so much lol but you can always make a hackintosh

[Christian]

mm I don't see why you like mac so much lol but you can always make a hackintosh

Lol, I like the clean interface, in my opinion, its 10x better than Windows.

There isn't much develpment for their new Windows8.

I know about Hackintosh, but I want it from apple. The way they intended the user ot user THIER computers.

Also their tech support is good because there isn't many models like on Windows, Hp, Dell, Asus, etc. Support is worse on Windows machines, to me.

 

Plus I like iMovie lol 

[ybnrmalatall]

Lol, I like the clean interface, in my opinion, its 10x better than Windows.

There isn't much develpment for their new Windows8.

I know about Hackintosh, but I want it from apple. The way they intended the user ot user THIER computers.

Also their tech support is good because there isn't many models like on Windows, Hp, Dell, Asus, etc. Support is worse on Windows machines, to me.

 

Plus I like iMovie lol 

when you build your computer, YOU are support

[mudmanc4]

I might take ca3les advice, save up for a machine. During that time if you have access to almost any box, run sabayon or debian. Your already on the path , follow it. 

[Christian]

I might take ca3les advice, save up for a machine. During that time if you have access to almost any box, run sabayon or debian. Your already on the path , follow it. 

Lmao

I might take ca3les advice, save up for a machine. During that time if you have access to almost any box, run sabayon or debian. Your already on the path , follow it. 

Yeah Im going to get a Mac Mini, by the time I have enough they'll have the new one out lol

Or my luck I'll buy it and two days later Apple with have a new one 2 days later .-.

lol

Im going to buy a older one anyways, its cheaper

Im going to upgrade it's guts though